Phonograph slip mats are known in the art and are essentially circular pieces of slippery cloth or synthetic material that are designed to allow disc jockeys (DJs) to manipulate a vinyl phonograph record on a phonograph turntable independently of the platter. The slip mat is positioned directly between the record and the deck platter. The slip mat reduces friction, allowing the platter to continue to turn underneath the record. When in operation, the user can hold a record in a fixed postion for “slip-cueing.” When slip-cueing at the moment the user wishes to start playing the record, the turntable continues to rotate underneath the record. Thus, the record does not need to rotate up to speed as it has always been rotating underneath the record. Slip-cueing is used by DJs for beatmatching when trying to start a record with the bass beats playing simultaneously with another record. Secondly, “back spinning” is used by DJs who pull a record back and forth to make a scratching sound on the record. A back spin involves spinning the record to retard, arrest, or reverse the linear motion of the record. Slip mats used in the prior art often prevent the platter from being pulled both in forward and reverse direction. This creates too much weight and inertia to back spin the record in a proper manner which can create undesired distortion.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical slip mat 100 as used in the prior art which is a flat disc 101 which sits upon the platter 103 of the turntable 105. The flat disc 101 includes a cutout area 107 which fits over the record centering peg 109. The centering peg 109 is positioned substantially at the center of the cutout area 107. This type of slip mat is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0093777 to Handley et al., which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. A common problem with the typical slip mat is that has a high amount of friction between record and turntable platter. This results in problems with both beat-matching and back spin. Thus, a new slip mat is needed that will provide very low friction with the platter enabling a DJ to provide more precise control to make better customized sounds with the turntable and phonograph record.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.